Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Best of 2012: Books I'm Looking Forward To

Ani believes she is just an insignificant whisper of a 12-year-old girl
in a loud world. This is what her mother tells her anyway. Her father
made her feel important, but he's been off fighting in Spain's Civil
War, and his voice in her head is fading. Then she meets Mathias. His
family has just moved to Guernica and he's as far from a whisper as a
14-year-old boy can be. Ani thinks Mathias is more like lightning. A boy
of action. Mathias's father is part of a spy network and soon Ani finds
herself helping him deliver messages to other members of the
underground. She's actually making a difference in the world.

And then her world explodes. The sleepy little market town of Guernica
is destroyed by Nazi bombers. In one afternoon Ani loses her city, her
home, her mother. But in helping the other survivors, Ani gains a sense
of her own strength. And she and Mathias make plans to fight back in
their own unique way.

Louisa Brody’s life on the Colorado prairie is not at all what she
expected. Her dear Pa, accused of thievery, is locked thirty miles away
in jail. She’s living with the awful Smirches, her closest neighbors and
the very family that accused her Pa of the horrendous crime. And now
she’s discovered one very cantankerous—and magical—secret beneath the
hazel grove. With her life flipped upside-down, it’s up to Louisa, her
sassy friend Jessamine, and that cranky secret to save Pa from a guilty
verdict. Ten bold illustrations from Erwin Madrid accompany
seasoned storyteller Melissa Wiley’s vibrant and enchanting tale of life
on the prairie—with one magical twist.

Violet is a seven-year-old with a knack for appreciating the smallest
things in life: her “Theory of Finding Small Things” states that the
moment of finding a tiny treasure usually coincides with the moment of
having a genius idea. This creative little girl always strives to think
outside the box, so when she spots a small china bird that she
desperately wants, she forms an imaginative plan for getting it—and her
methods are anything but ordinary!Violet Mackerel’s Brilliant Plot
is the first book in an irresistibly charming series starring Violet
and her family that has pitch-perfect perspective and plenty of
laugh-out-loud humor.

Victoria hates nonsense. There is no need for it when your life is
perfect. The only smudge on her pristine life is her best friend
Lawrence. He is a disaster—lazy and dreamy, shirt always untucked,
obsessed with his silly piano. Victoria often wonders why she ever
bothered being his friend. (Lawrence does too.) But then
Lawrence goes missing. And he’s not the only one. Victoria soon
discovers that The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls is not what it
appears to be. Kids go in but come out…different. Or they don’t’ come
out at all. If anyone can sort this out, it’s Victoria—even if it means getting a little messy.

Seventeen pounds. That’s the difference between Abigail Walker and
Kristen Gorzca. Between chubby and slim, between teased and taunting.
Abby is fine with her body and sick of seventeen pounds making her
miserable, so she speaks out against Kristen and her groupies—and
becomes officially unpopular. Embracing her new status, Abby heads to an
abandoned lot across the street and crosses an unfamiliar stream that
leads her to a boy who’s as different as they come. Anders is
homeschooled, and while he’s worried that Abby’s former friends are out
to get her, he’s even more worried about his dad, a war veteran home
from Afghanistan who is dangerously disillusioned with life. But if his
dad can finish his poem about the expedition of Lewis and Clark, if he
can effectively imagine what it is to experience freshness and
innocence, maybe he will be okay. As Abby dives into the unexpected role
as research assistant, she just as unexpectedly discovers that by
helping someone else find hope in the world, there is plenty there for
herself, as well.

The city of Jewel is in peril once again, as it is held captive by the
frightful Fugleman, his band of Blessed Guardians, and an army of
merciless mercenaries. There's no doubt that Goldie and Toadspit want to
get their city back, but how can a small group of children fight
against such overwhelming forces of evil? And how, as Goldie is
determined, can they avoid bloodshed in a war that will set thieves
against soldiers, and trickery and deception against a mighty cannon
that shoots cannonballs bent on destruction? As Toadspit fights the
Fugleman in a duel to the death, Goldie must face her hardest task yet.
If she is to save the city, she must walk the mysterious Beast Road,
deep inside the Museum of Thieves. No one knows where it goes and no one
has ever returned from it.

Will West is careful to live life under the radar. At his parents'
insistence, he's made sure to get mediocre grades and to stay in the
middle of the pack on his cross-country team. Then Will slips up,
accidentally scoring off the charts on a nationwide exam.

Now
Will is being courted by an exclusive prep school...and followed by men
driving black sedans. When Will suddenly loses his parents, he must flee
to the school. There he begins to explore all that he's capable
of-physical and mental feats that should be impossible-and learns that
his abilities are connected to a struggle between titanic forces that
has lasted for millennia.

Guess I better stop there, this list could go on forever. :) What book(s) are you looking forward to the most?

6 comments:

I was really excited to get an ARC of the Guys Read: The Sports Pages, and I think there's both a new Tim Green and Mike Lupica book out. Is this sad? Have I become a 12-year-old boy, or do I just look forward to those titles because they will make my life easier? If there is a fourth Gary Paulsen book in the Liar, Liar series, I really want that because they were hysterical!

Ooh, you cheated! ;) This list was supposed to cover your fav read of 2012. Hehe, oh well, I like how you put your own spin on the topic. I have to shop for my nephew's birthday and you've given me a few ideas. Thanks!

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I am currently working as a elementary school librarian which I love. I enjoy sharing books on my blogs of which I have two (Geo Librarian and LDS and Lovin' it). I also review for School Library Journal.